President Park Geun-hye will seek the export of South Korea’s light attack aircraft to Peru during her four-day state visit to the South American country, an official said Sunday.
Park arrived in Lima on Saturday for talks with her Peruvian counterpart, Ollanta Humala, on how to further strengthen economic and other relations. The talks are set to be held on Monday.
South Korea said a planned rollout ceremony for the first basic trainer ,which would be assembled in Peru in cooperation with the Korea Aerospace Industries, could help Seoul’s push to export FA-50 fighter jets to Peru.
The ceremony is to be held on the sidelines of Park’s visit.
South Korean officials said that they hope Park’s visit will help open the path of mutual growth between the two countries, citing Peru’s push to embrace South Korea’s economic and social development strategy for its own national development.
Peru is the second stop on Park’s four-nation swing to South America. Park’s trip will also take her to Chile and Brazil where bilateral economic and trade cooperation is expected to be high on her agenda.
Prior to landing in Peru, Park met with her Colombian counterpart, Juan Manuel Santos, in Bogota on Friday and called for a quick ratification of a bilateral free trade agreement the two countries signed in February 2013. South Korea has already ratified the FTA with Colombia but Bogota has yet to ratify it.
Park met with Colombian veterans of the Korean War on Saturday to illustrate Seoul’s appreciation for the sacrifice Colombia made to help defend South Korea.
Colombia was the only nation from Central and South America to fight alongside South Korea against Chinese-backed North Korean forces. About 5,100 troops were dispatched halfway around the world to help fight the North’s invasion, of which 213 were killed and 448 wounded. About 1,000 veterans are believed to still be alive.
“Once again, I deeply appreciate your sacrifices and courage,” Park in a meeting with about 180 surviving veterans and family members of the war dead at a hotel. High-profile participants included Francisco M. Caicedo, an 85-year-old veteran, who met Park in 1975 when he was invited to Seoul. At that time, Park served as a stand-in first lady because her mother had been killed in a failed assassination attempt on her father, then President Park Chung-hee.
Also Saturday, Park met with more than a dozen people from the Korean community.
From news reports
